Soda dispensing machine

ABSTRACT

A soda dispensing machine comprising a basic body (10), including a tank (11) containing immersion water (A), in which there are immersed: an evaporator (21) of a refrigerating unit (20); a coil basket (30), disposed inside the evaporator (21) and including at least one gasified water coil (31); a carbonator (40), which is connected with respective sources of carbonic gas and potable water, which are mixed by the carbonator, so as to obtain gasified water, the coil (31) being provided with gasified water and air, which is purged through a drain valve (41) in fluid communication with the carbonator (40), the peripheral surface of the evaporator (21) being adjacently disposed in relation to the peripheral surface of the tank (11), the carbonator (40) being disposed inside the evaporator (21), the drain valve (41) of the carbonator being disposed externally in relation to the basic body (10).

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers, in general, to a new constructivearrangement for a soda dispensing machine, and more particularly, to amodification and repositioning of the carbonator in said machine, inorder to make said machine be thermically more efficient andconsequently more economical and durable, since the compressor of itsrefrigerating system will work during shorter periods, between longerintervals of time.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The machine for dispensing sodas or gasified beverages, such as softdrinks, basically comprises at least one water reservoir and at leastone syrup (beverage concentrate) reservoir. The water and syrup flowsare independent from each other and refrigerated by an adequaterefrigerating system provided at the operational unit of the machine.The water passes through a carbonator, which consists of a refrigeratedchamber containing pressurized carbonic gas, which is dissolved in thewater, gasifying said water. The gasified water and syrup travel throughrespective coils, till they reach a dispensing valve, which releases aperipheral flow of gasified water and a central flow of syrup. Saidflows are at about 4° C. and mixed in the consumption container, such asa glass.

The operational unit of a soda dispensing machine carries, within acabinet provided with a lid, a tank containing water, in which there aresubmersed: the evaporator of a refrigerating unit disposed above thetank; the carbonated water and syrup coils, attached to a coil supportor basket; the carbonator; and a stirrer, to provide the circulation ofthe immersion water in said tank.

In the known soda dispensing machines, the evaporator, which has agenerally substantially parallepipedal shape with a square base, isdisposed inside the tank, in order to present at least one of itslateral surfaces spaced from the adjacent tank wall, in such a way as toallow the carbonator to be disposed therebetween. The coil basket isperipherally disposed inside the evaporator, with the stirrer beinggeometrically disposed in the center of the coil basket.

The immersion water of the tank is refrigerated by the evaporator. Forthis purpose, the evaporator forms on the surface thereof an ice layer,which is melted by said water, the latter transferring to the ice layeran amount of heat corresponding to the latent heat of fusion of the ice,thereby cooling said water.

The several flows, i.e., the water and carbonic gas flows, which are fedto the carbonator, the gasified water flow, supplied by said carbonatorand the syrup flows are refrigerated, by immersing the respective tubesand coils in the water of the tank, while the carbonator is refrigeratedby a water flow projected through the evaporator against saidcarbonator, by action of the stirrer.

A good soda should present an adequate level of dissolved gas, so as notto transmit to the consumer the sensation of being flat. Suchsatisfactory level of gasification basically depends on the perfectoperational conditions of the carbonator which, besides receiving theadequately cooled flows of water and carbonic gas, should itself beperfectly cooled.

Such condition is not always fully reached in the prior art equipment.The fact that the carbonator is disposed externally to the evaporatoralready provides an unfavorable operational condition, since this regionis hotter than the inside of the evaporator, usually causing anoverpressure inside the carbonator, resulting in the activation of adrain valve, which is disposed on the top thereof, and which liberatesan excess of water-air-carbonic gas mixture, to be explained ahead. Thisdrawback, together with a consequent undesirable loss of carbonic gas,is usually minimized by overdimensioning the refrigerating system. Suchmachines further present a second drawback. When the machine is switchedon, but not used for a long period of time, a thick ice layer is formedaround the evaporator, creating a barrier to the flow of water from thetank through the evaporator, preventing the carbonator from beingadequately refrigerated when the machine is used again to deliver thesoda. It should be noted that this problem will be even greater when therefrigerating system is overdimensioned, with the aim to solve the firstdrawback mentioned above.

Generally, the water to be gasified enters the carbonator, carryingtherewith an amount of dissolved air. Since this air is lighter than thecarbonic gas, it will be displaced by the latter during the watergasification, accumulating on the top of the carbonator. In order toavoid the air to occupy a large space in the carbonator, preventing thelatter from working adequately and avoiding the precise watergasification, the above cited drain valve is manually activated, so asto allow the purgation of said accumulated air.

The arrangement of said valve on the top of the carbonator in the knownmachines generates additional problems: the purged air carries a largeamount of water, which constitutes a potential source of short-circuitswhen in contact with the electrical system inside the machine. Moreover,said valve is of difficult access, requiring the removal of the externallid of the appliance to be operated.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide a constructivearrangement for a soda dispensing machine, which allows to achieve anoptimized thermal yielding, as well as a constant level of watergasification.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide aconstructive arrangement as described above, which allows an easy accessand safe handling of the purging means thereof.

These and other objectives and advantages of the present invention areachieved through the provision of a constructive arrangement of a sodadispensing machine of the type comprising a basic body, including a tankcontaining immersion water, in which there are immersed: an evaporator,which refrigerates the immersion water; a coil basket, disposed insidethe evaporator and including at least one coil of gasified water; acarbonator, connected with respective sources of carbonic gas andpotable water, which are mixed by said carbonator, so as to obtaingasified water, said coil being provided with gasified water and air,which is purged through a drain valve in fluid communication with saidcarbonator.

According to the invention, the peripheral surface of the evaporator isadjacently disposed relative to the peripheral surface of the tank, saidcarbonator being disposed inside said evaporator and the drain valve ofsaid carbonator being disposed externally in relation to the basic body.

The carbonator of a soda dispensing machine, when disposed inside theevaporator according to the present invention, is efficiently and evenlyrefrigerated in any operative conditions of the machine. The improvementobtained with such innovation is specially evidenced in extremeoperative conditions, such as when the machine is used again, after longnon-use periods, which cause the formation of a thick ice layer aroundthe evaporator. As the carbonator is located at the region with coolerwater, it can gasify the water perfectly well, since the very firstmoments of the machine delivering operation.

As a further consequence of this improvement, the internal overpressureof the carbonator is substantially eliminated, thus avoiding thespontaneous actuation of its drain valve, as well as the consequentlosses of carbonic gas and undesirable wetting of the electrical systemwith the drawn waters.

In a second aspect, the present invention provides the positioning ofthe drain valve of the carbonator externally to the machine. Besideseliminating the trouble of removing the external lid of the appliance ateach periodical operation of purging the amount of air formed on the topof the carbonator, such operation becomes substantially safer becausethere is no risk of the water, which is drawn by the purged air, offalling over the electrical system of the appliance, causingshort-circuits.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be described below, with reference to the attacheddrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an exploded perspective view of a soda dispensing machine,according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top schematic view of the tank of the soda dispensingmachine illustrated in FIG. 1, showing the carbonator provided with atube, which is connected with the drain valve, disposed externally tothe equipment; and

FIG. 3 is a frontal elevational view of the machine, without therefrigerating unit and the lid, showing the arrangement of the drainvalve of the carbonator.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

According to the figures described above, the soda dispensing machinecomprises a basic body 10, which includes a tank 11, having asubstantially parallepipedal shape with a square base, a supportingplate 12 seated onto said tank and carrying a refrigerating unit 20,including a compressor 22, a condenser 23 and an electronic control box24.

Said supporting plate 12 further carries the motor 51 of a stirrer 50,whose function will be defined ahead. The basic body 10 further includesa lid 13, preferably in a reinforced plastic material, such aspolyesther with a fiberglass reinforcement. Said lid 13 covers the plate12 and consequently the elements attached thereto.

The tank 11 is filled up with an amount of immersion water A, sufficientto completely cover the several elements disposed inside said tank 11,i.e., the evaporator 21 of the refrigerating unit 20, a coil support orbasket 30, a carbonator 40 and the already mentioned stirrer 50.

The evaporator 21 comprises a structure defined by a plurality ofhorizontal tubular frames 21a, which are fixed at the median portions ofthe sides thereof into spacedly disposed orifices of correspondingcolumns 21b, which are fixed at the upper portion thereof to thesupporting plate 12 and seated on the bottom of the tank 11. Theexternal dimensions of said evaporator 21 are slightly smaller than theinternal dimensions of the tank 11, i.e., the sides of the frames 21aare disposed adjacently to the corresponding lateral walls of the tank11.

During the operation of the refrigerating unit 20, there is formed onthe surface of the tubular frames 21a of the evaporator 21 an ice layer,which will absorb an amount of heat from the immersion water A,corresponding to the latent heat of fusion of the ice, thusrefrigerating said immersion water A preferably at a temperature ofabout 4° C.

Such arrangement of the evaporator 21 represents a substantialimprovement for this type of equipment. Since substantially the wholeamount of immersion water A is located inside the evaporator 21, thereis eliminated the great difference between the temperatures of theexternal and internal waters of the evaporator in the knownconstructions, said waters being restrained from circulating andbecoming homogenized, due to the ice barrier formed on the evaporatorafter long non-use periods of the machine. The temperature of the wateris homogenized when said water is stirred by the stirrer 50 which, formaximum yielding, is substantially disposed in the center of the tank11. Said immersion water A, which is homogeneously distributed in thetank 11 at about 0° C., will refrigerate the elements contained in saidtank 11 and consequently the liquid masses flowing through saidelements, to be described below.

The coil basket 30 is defined by a metallic structure, which issubstantially cubic and mounted at the bottom of the tank 11 and towhich are fixed the liquid coils, which comprise at least one, butpreferably two carbonated water coils 31 and usually four syrup coils32, 33, 34 and 35, each conducting a syrup or concentrate of acorresponding soda from the assortment distributed by the machine.

The syrup coils 32, 33, 34, 35 are connected, at one end, with thecorresponding syrup tanks, not illustrated, which feed said coils and,at the other end, each coil 32, 33, 34, 35 feeds a corresponding sodadispensing valve, not illustrated either.

The carbonator 40 receives, from an adequate source and through a tubeimmersed in the immersion water A, a flow of cold potable water, whichis mixed under pressure with a flow of carbonic gas, in order todissolve said gas into said water, producing a carbonated water, whichis distributed, through a carbonated water collector 36, to thecarbonated water coils 31. Each of said coils feeds two soda dispensingvalves.

Each soda dispensing valve liberates a central flow of syrup and aperipheral flow of carbonated water, the mixture of both flows occurringinside the container, where the soda is finally formed.

In order to permit the purgation of the carbonator 40, there isprovided, externally to the tank 11 and preferably at the externalsurface of its back wall, a drain valve 41, which is connected with thetop of the carbonator 40 through a tube 42.

The proposed constructive arrangement, besides providing an even andefficient refrigeration of the carbonator 40, resulting in a constantlevel of water carbonation i.e., in a good quality and homogeneous soda,avoids overpressures inside said carbonator and, consequently, theundesirable spontaneous actuations of its drain valve 41. Moreover, thepositioning of said valve outside the machine avoids the wettings andrisks of short circuits that usually occur in the known soda dispensingmachines.

We claim:
 1. A soda dispensing machine, of the type comprising a basicbody (10), including a tank (11) containing immersion water (A), inwhich there are immersed: an evaporator (21) of a refrigerating unit(20); a coil basket (30), disposed inside the evaporator (21) andincluding at least one gasified water coil (31); a carbonator (40),which is connected with respective sources of carbonic gas and potablewater, which are mixed by said carbonator, so as to obtain gasifiedwater, said coil (31) being provided with gasified water and air, whichis purged through a drain valve (41) in fluid communication with saidcarbonator (40), characterized in that the peripheral surface of theevaporator (21) is adjacently disposed in relation to the peripheralsurface of the tank (11), the carbonator (40) being disposed inside saidevaporator (21), the drain valve (41) of said carbonator being disposedexternally in relation to the basic body (10).
 2. Machine, according toclaim 1, characterized in that the drain valve (41) is fixed to theexternal surface of the front wall of the tank (11).
 3. Machine,according to claim 1, characterized in that the drain valve (41) isconnected with the carbonator (40) through a tube (42).